Somehow The Pain Flows Away
ONE
Turning of The Taps – A prologue
Doctor Meredith Grey was in her 5th month of her internship at Seattle Grace Hospital. During the past months she had made friends and impressed both the hospitals residents, attendings and the nursing staff with her easy grace and open nature. She had also managed to keep both her professional life and private life separate, with only 3 people in the hospital knowing her biggest secret. Luca.
The Chief of Surgery, Doctor Richard Webber, knew for 2 reasons. Firstly he was her father, well, step-father. After her Dad Thatcher had died months after she was born her mother had met Richard Webber, both residents at Seattle Grace they had fallen in love and gotten married. Richard becoming her father, and when Meredith's Mother had developed Alzheimer's, at the same time as a particularly stressful period in Meredith's life, and been forced to be put in a care home, Meredith had become to rely heavily on Richard. He also had to know because if her secret affected her job he would know why.
Meredith had also become close friends with the highly strung unsociable Cristina Yang, another intern on the same rota with resident Dr Bailey, as Meredith was herself. As the weeks had progressed the two had become close friends. In 4 months they had become each others persons, best friends, the sisters they never had. Cristina had also despite being highly competitive and quite harsh was surprisingly understanding of Meredith and often helped her out when the pressures of work and home became to strong. Her boyfriend Attending Doctor Preston Burke, also at Seattle Grace had become someone else who Meredith had begun to rely on.
So when Meredith rushed into the hospital at 11pm, knowing her 3 allies were in surgeries, she quickly realized that her separation of work and home had come to an end. Her secret was out. Rushing past the OR board where it stated all 3 Doctors were in surgery was the moment that her two worlds collided.